일반과세자, 간이과세자, 면세사업자: which supplier can invoice you

Every Korean business carries a VAT classification. It is the single field that determines whether your supplier can give you a document you can reclaim VAT against — and it is invisible unless you look it up.

일반과세자 — general VAT payer

The standard category, and the one you want. A general VAT payer charges VAT, issues a proper 세금계산서, and the input VAT is reclaimable in the normal way. Most corporations and any business of meaningful size falls here.

간이과세자 — simplified VAT payer

A reduced-obligation category for small businesses. Since July 2024 the ceiling has been annual revenue below 104 million won, raised from the previous 80 million.

This is where it becomes subtle, because simplified taxpayers split into two groups with very different consequences for you:

면세사업자 — VAT-exempt business

Some goods and services are exempt from VAT entirely: certain medical services, education, unprocessed foodstuffs, financial services and others. Businesses supplying only these register as VAT-exempt.

They issue a 계산서, not a 세금계산서. The two look similar and translate almost identically into English, but only the latter carries VAT. There is no input VAT on an exempt supply, so there is nothing to reclaim — this is not a failing on the supplier’s part, simply how exempt supplies work.

Organisations with a 고유번호

Non-profits, associations and government bodies may hold a unique tax number rather than a commercial registration. They are not ordinary trading counterparties and do not issue VAT tax invoices. If you are expecting a commercial supplier and find one of these, check that you are dealing with the entity you think you are.

Why this should be checked before contracting

The classification is not usually discussed during negotiation. It surfaces when the first invoice arrives and your finance team finds it cannot be reclaimed — by which point the price has been agreed on the assumption that it could.

On a large order the difference is material. Checking the classification before you agree pricing lets you either select a different supplier or negotiate the VAT treatment into the price, rather than absorbing it after the fact.